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(This is my tenth year doing Yuletide - which means my eleventh Yuletide - so why not begin the letter with some flattery?)

As usual, I'm copy/pasting a lot of this from previous letters, but it's all up-to-date. (I mean, there are some things I request every year anyway, so why not recycle?) Some of my prompts may be longer than others; please don't interpret this as me wanting you to write (or not write) a specific fandom or prompt. It's just that some of them (like the Black Mirror ones) require more words to cover everything.

As always, these prompts are all completely optional and there's no need to answer every question I ask.

I'm fully up to date on all the canons mentioned herein (including the most recent books in both of my literary prompts), so need to worry about spoiling me. (The other side of this: this letter is seriously spoilery in places, so read carefully.)

Thank you so much for writing for me! You clearly have the best taste in all of Yuletide. My letter, with prompts and general likes/dislikes included, is behind the cut. As usual, much of this is copy/pasted from previous letters, so if you get the feeling you've read this before, you're probably right.

(Also of note, this letter isn't in the same order as my signup proper -- I edited one of my prompts in after signing up and I don't want to risk screwing things up by reordering the signup to make it alphabetical.)

Thank you so much for writing for me! You clearly have the best taste in all of Yuletide. My letter, with prompts and general likes/dislikes included, is behind the cut. As usual, much of this is copy/pasted from previous letters, so if you get the feeling you've read this before, you're probably right.

Much of this is recyled from years previous, but I've changed all the stuff that needs changing. :)

Dear Yuletide Writer:

Thank you for writing for me! Or thank AO3's matching algorithm for making you write for me. Or something. Here's my letter (with prompts included for easy reference/what-have-you), full of joy and "omg this bit is THE BEST" and all the usual stuff like that.

I could go the entire rest of my life without encountering another story about how ~~~inspirational~~~ disabled people are, and how ~~~amazing~~~ it is when they're successful. And I would be happy to do so.

Seriously, the news story I just watched was all about how this woman runs a restaurant, but it's not an ordinary restaurant, because she uses a wheelchair. They could have done a story about the barriers she faced getting it set up. (Hurdle number 1, as pointed out by exor674: people who are surprised that they can own a business!) They could have done about a hundred other stories about her. But no. This was flat-out "Hey, abled people, you can watch this and feel good about yourselves!"

Positive depictions of people with disabilities are good. The story I saw (which I am not linking, even via DoNotLink, because fuck that) is not positive, that is patronizing. It's inspiration porn, and I'm sick of it.

If you really want to use the media to help disabled people, you don't only show them the same way you'd do a story about a water-skiing budgie.

The official letters post isn't going to be posted for a few more days, but I'm bored and antsy and the Avs just (finally!) won a game and the package I'm expecting is still in West Virginia and I'm frantically trying to distract myself from real life, so here goes.

Dear Yuletide Writer:

Thank you for writing for me! Or thank AO3's matching algorithm for making you write for me. Or something. Here's my letter (with prompts included for easy reference/what-have-you), full of joy and "omg this bit is THE BEST" and all the usual stuff like that.

So the dermatologist (I see her every year for exactly this reason) biopsied one of my moles a couple weeks ago. And it came back as precancerous. I've been through that much before, it's why I see the dermo (at a minimum) annually. What's new is that this is the first time the biopsy didn't catch it all so I have to go back to their surgeon. So I get to spend the entire week waiting for a phone call.

In other news, the biopsy site still has a big ol' scab over it (which is normal, as there were no stitches). And it ITCHES. And it's on my BACK. Why does it gotta be on my back? (The answer to that: so you can't scratch it, Neb, you dumbass.)

Anyway, it's PSA o'clock for all of you who're reading this. Know your skin. Nearly everybody has some spots, and it's important to know where they are and what they're like.

The warning signs, keeping in mind that I am Not A Doctor Myself, nor do I play one on TV:Asymmetry - It may not be perfectly round, but it should be fairly symmetrical. Oval is cool. Blob-shaped is right out.Border - The border on any moles and the like should be uniformly well-defined. If it's fuzzy, if it's uneven, if it looks like someone broke an egg yolk and now it's spilling everywhere, see a doctor. (If you have no previous personal or family history of skin cancer, you may be able to get away with seeing your GP; otherwise, see a dermatologist.)Color - Each of your moles should be uniform in color. If it's more than one color, see a doctor. If it takes on a bluish hue, see a doctor. If you have several moles in one part of your body and one of them is colored differently than the others, keep an extra-close eye on it.Diameter - If it's wider than 6mm (the eraser at the end of your pencil), see a doctor.Evolution - This is the big one. If any of the above traits changes over time, see a doctor. Full stop, end of story.

Melanoma (not the most common form of skin cancer, but the form I personally am most likely to develop) has a 95% cure rate (that's not remission, that's cure) if it's caught and removed early, but it's nearly impossible to get rid of once it spreads. The good thing about skin is that it's nearly 100% visible, so it can be very easy to catch nasty things early, so long as you know what to look for.

Oh, and wear some damn sunscreen if you're going outside. SPF 15-30 is good for most people, but use a higher one if you're very prone to burning or are otherwise at high risk. (With anything higher than 60, you get diminishing returns, but I use 75 because between my personal history and my city's altitude it's just a good idea for me.) Use more sunscreen than you think you need. Reapply it often, especially if you've been exercising.

Athena: *sits on the floor near me and stares until she has my attention*Me: "What's up, tinycat?"Athena: *walks over to the couch, sits down, stares at the couch blanket until she has my further attention*Me: "Do you want me to get your blankie off the couch and put it on my lap so you can sit on it?"Athena: "Meow."

Thank you for writing for me! Or thank AO3's matching algorithm for making you write for me. Or something. Here's my letter (with prompts included for easy reference/what-have-you), full of joy and "omg this bit is THE BEST" and all the usual stuff like that.

Me: *making lunch*Athena: *politely ignoring me from the other room*Me: *gets out a bag of grated cheese*Athena: *perks up, continues pretending to ignore me*Me: Gee, I have this whole big bag of cheese here, if only there were someone I could share it--Athena: *rubs up against my legs* *prrprrprr*

So I just got home and sat down and got settled, and I saw Orion across the room from me, staring. And I stared back. He sneaked toward me a little and stopped, and repeated this until he was right next to me. He then stretched up onto his back legs and tapped me on the shoulder with his front paw, and ran.

My non-spoilery review, in the form of a text message conversation between me and my sister. (Footnotes added after the fact, and I've cleaned up some of my chronic laziness at proper capitalization within texts.)

Me: So it turns out that the new Trek movie is actually worth seeing. I'm a bit shocked my ownself1. Not one of my top three, but close2.Me: I spent the first 20 minutes rolling my eyes, but I'm glad I stuck around.

The scene: Tianna's car, where we're discussing anything but this week, because this week is depressing as fuck. The radio somehow goes from playing "Gimme Shelter" to "Margaritaville," so we switch to the local classic rock station. A minute later...

Ti: Wait a second, they're playing Soundgarden.

Me: ...omg, you're right.

Ti: I used to listen to this when I was driving this route to high school every day.